Bhagavad Gita Chapter 9 Verse 21
भगवद् गीता अध्याय 9 श्लोक 21

ते तं भुक्त्वा स्वर्गलोकं विशालं
क्षीणे पुण्ये मर्त्यलोकं विशन्ति।
एव त्रयीधर्ममनुप्रपन्ना
गतागतं कामकामा लभन्ते।।9.21।।



English Translation - Swami Gambirananda
9.21 After having enjoyed that vast heavenly world, they enter into the human world on the exhaustion of their merit. Thus, those who follow the rites and duties prescribed in the three Vedas, and are desirous of pleasures, attain the state of going and returning.


English Translation of Ramanuja's Sanskrit Commentary
9.21 After enjoying the spacious world of heaven, they return to the world of mortals when the meritorious Karma forming the cause of that experience is exhausted. Thus, lacking in the knowledge established in the Vedanta and desiring only the attainment of heaven etc., they who follow the teaching of the three Vedas on sacrificial rites, come and go. After enjoying the trifling and transient pleasures of heaven, they return to Samsara again and again.

But the great souls meditating on Me, who am incomparably dear to them, attain boundless and unsurpassed bliss and do not return to Samsara.

Sri Krsna desribes their distinguishing features:


Transliteration Bhagavad Gita 9.21Te tam bhuktwaa swargalokam vishaalamKsheene punye martyalokam vishanti;
Evam trayeedharmamanuprapannaaGataagatam kaamakaamaa labhante.


Word Meanings Bhagavad Gita 9.21te—they; tam—that; bhuktvā—having enjoyed; swarga-lokam—heaven; viśhālam—vast; kṣhīṇe—at the exhaustion of; puṇye—stock of merits; martya-lokam—to the earthly plane; viśhanti—return; evam—thus; trayī dharmam—the karm-kāṇḍ portion of the three Vedas; anuprapannāḥ—follow; gata-āgatam—repeated coming and going; kāma-kāmāḥ—desiring objects of enjoyments; labhante—attain